It is sometimes necessary to remove one or more layers of coating from a surface. For example, during renovation of old houses, it is normally required to remove several coats of paint from the walls of said houses. Various methods are available for executing this work. For example, the paint removal can be carried out by means of scraping or grinding, which either implies a great effort of costly manpower or diffusion of ecologically harmful dust and disturbing noise. Alternatively, the paint can be burned off or softened by means of heating, to make it easier to scrape the paint off. Blow torches or hot air guns can be utilized for this purpose. However, the open flame of a blow torch constitutes a fire hazard and it is difficult to gain real efficiency and an equally distributed heating to the right temperature with a hot air gun. Caustic solutions or strong hydrocarbon-based solvents have also been utilized for removal of paint from wooden facades. These methods involve various disadvantages, such as negative environmental effects, drying of the wood (resulting in cracks), not to mention the fact that many hydrocarbon based solutions are very toxic.
SE 9000763-4 proposes an alternative solution utilizing a source of infra-red radiation for softening the paint, whereafter the paint is removed by means of mechanical treatment. Further developments of this concept is shown in EP 1 028 856 B1 and US 2007/0280654 A1.
EP 0 485 178 A1 discloses a solution wherein a heating device comprising an infra-red heat source mounted in a reflector unit is used for stripping paint. The heating device is compact and adapted to be held by one hand.
One advantage with compact hand held heating devices is that they are particularly suitable for smaller and hard-to-reach areas. However, it is important to ensure that the handle assembly does not reach temperatures that may cause burn injuries.